May 26, 2017 at 2:52 p.m.
Comer, Rudolph lead Hodags past Merrill 10-4
Comer, Rudolph lead Hodags past Merrill 10-4
Comer had three hits, drove in two and finished a home run short of the cycle, while Rudolph pitched six innings of two-hit baseball to keep the Bluejay offense in check.
The Hodags jumped on Merrill for six runs in the first two innings and never looked back.
"I thought we did something early on in the game that we were doing very well early on in the year and have kind of gotten away from it - that's score big and score early," RHS baseball coach Joe Waksmonski said. "They got the one run, we kind of gave them that run, and then we came back with the two. I know they have had a big error in that inning, but then we came back in the second inning."
Merrill was gifted a run in the top of the first as Kobe Blake stole third and scored after catcher Tyler Blomdahl's attempt to throw him out sailed into left field.
Blake returned the favor in the bottom of the inning, booting Cole Spaulding's two-out grounder to second, allowing Easton Senoraske and Brad Quade to score.
The Hodags chased Zach Anderson from the hill after pounding the Merrill starter in the second with a big four-run, two-out rally.
It started with a Quade single to load the bases for Blomdahl, who hit a three-run double to the gap in right center. Comer followed with a double of his own to score Blomdahl. Spaulding added a hit later in the inning.
"To see that offense come through with four straight hits on four straight pitches, all with two outs and to be able to score four runs, I thought that was big of us to grab a 6-1 lead and take control early," Waksmonski said. "That was the stuff that we were doing early in the year. That was good to see and hopefully we can build up some momentum and carry that into the postseason. That's going to be big going into the postseason, being able to score early and score often."
Comer tripled home DeMeyer in the fourth to capture the third leg of the natural cycle. He couldn't get the last however, popping out to first in the sixth inning. Still, it was a strong bounce-back game the junior who had slid all the way down to seventh in the batting order earlier this week due to some struggles at the plate.
"I think all of it has to do with his general approach lately. He's coming to practice and coming to games with a little different attitude and I think it's starting to pay off right now," Waksmonski said.
Comer scored on Cole Spaulding's single in the fourth and Brad Quade added a two-run double in the fifth. All 10 of Rhinelander's runs came with two outs Thursday.
That was plenty of run support for Rudolph who settled in after walking two of the first three batters he faced. He struck out three and walked three in six innings of work.
"He threw well. He was around the zone, working in and out, working up and down, mixing fastballs with off-speed pitches and I thought he did a great job for us tonight," Waksmonski said.
Kordell Renken hit a three-run double off reliever Tait Spencer in the Merrill seventh. The lefty, Spencer, faced five batters without recording an out before Senoraske came in to put out the fire.
The Hodags closed out the regular season Friday against Ashland in a game that concluded after deadline. Rhinelander will host Green Bay Southwest Tuesday to open the WIAA tournament. Waksmonski said Thursday's contest - especially seeing Merrill ace Ryan Golisch out of the bullpen in the fifth and sixth innings - was a strong prep for postseason play.
"That's really the type of pitcher we're going to see," he said. "Ryan's one of their conference pitchers and someone who throws hard. It's good to see a guy who throws that hard, because that's what we're going to see going into the postseason."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.